Most athletic shoes used for field sports, such as football, baseball, softball, soccer, and lacrosse, have a number of either tapered or blade-like cleats for the purpose of increasing traction. Cleats dig into the turf to prevent slipping during starting, stopping, and cutting maneuvers.
Such cleats, however, in addition to providing desirable traction for starting, stopping and cutting, typically provide very undesirable resistance to pivoting. This can be a disadvantage in two ways.
When pivoting is inhibited, the maneuverability of the athlete is limited. His performance is less than it could be. Enhancing the ability of a player to pivot can greatly increase his effectiveness on the field.
In addition to inhibiting certain pivoting actions which athletes attempt or would like to attempt, many cleats of the prior art tend to resist turning movements which can relieve stresses within the leg when unwanted torque or force is applied to the athlete, particularly to the athlete's leg. If a twising moment is forcibly applied to a leg at a time when the cleats are firmly planted into the turf and release from the turf is not possible, injuries can result, particularly common knee injuries.
Some athletic shoes have cleats intended to accommodate pivoting movements. One approach has used fixed annular cleats. The performance of such shoes can vary greatly, depending on various factors. However, the annular-cleated athletic shoe of the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,577,422 provides greatly improved pivotability and unexcelled traction, and reduces the chance of athletic injuries.
The improvement in pivotability made possible with shoes in accordance with the principles of such patent is dramatic, and such shoes give the athletes wearing them a natural feeling of freedom together with a good feeling of traction for stopping, starting and cutting.
The invention described and claimed herein relates generally to athletic shoes having substantially continuous annular cleats. The substantially continuous annular cleats are modified to provide particular advantages. In some cases, modifications in the substantially continuous ring can significantly improve the performance of such shoes.
It has been found that in some forms athletic shoes in accordance with U.S. Pat. No. 4,577,422 may make a snapping or clapping sound during running on wet ground--particularly when the athlete is running backwards. This may be considered a negative factor, and it may be desirable to modify the annular cleat to reduce or eliminate such sound.
Another concern relates to the degree of penetration of the substantially continuous annular cleat and the effect that that can have on how well the shoe functions. For example, if there is insufficient ground penetration of the annular cleat, there will be less traction than is desirable and less ground bearing than is needed to achieve the best possible pivotability.
Consideration must be given to the total cleat end area--that is, the total area of the distal surface(s) of the cleat or cleats. The greater the total end area bearing on the ground, the more difficult it may be for an annular cleat to penetrate the ground; the smaller the total end area bearing on the ground, the easier is may be for an annular cleat to penetrate the ground. This affect is accentuated when the ground is hard. While sharping the distal end of the annular cleat reduces the total area of the distal surface, it may also cause some concern about injury from player contact with such sharp edges.
Resolution of these conflicting concerns may require development of an improvement in shoes with substantially continuous annular cleats. The cleating of such shoes should provide good ground penetration to insure the aforementioned excellent combination of traction and pivotability in a comfortable functional athletic shoe.
This invention is directed toward such improvements in cleated shoes of the type having substantially continuous annular cleats.
Before describing the invention, a brief description of the foot and its pivoting and planted positions will be helpful. This can serve as an aid in understanding preferred embodiments of this invention.
The sole of the foot includes four basic portions. These are, in order back to front: the heel portion; the arch portion; the ball-of-the-foot portion; and the toe portion. The heel portion and the ball-of-the-foot portion are those portions which share most if not all of the player's weight when the player is in a normal standing position with his feet generally flat on the ground. In such position, the arch portion and toe portion bear little if any weight.
When a player is "on his toes" in a "ready" position, virtually all of the player's weight is normally shared by the toe portion and the ball-of-the-foot portion. The same is usually true when a player is "digging" in a running action. Indeed, when a player is in the ready position the juncture of the phalanges (toe bones) and the metatarsles is the center of weight bearing. In other words, the center weight bearing in the forward portions of the foot actually moves forward when a player shifts to the ready position.
The sole of an athletic shoe has portions immediately below such four foot portions which may be designated, and herein are designated, by the same terms.